Trust
by Lassuel
Summary: Belle's last night in her father's tower.


Her father hadn't acted completely unexpected when Belle returned from her time with Rumplestiltskin. He hadn't acted completely expected either.

She hadn't been expecting the fire and scourging plan of his when every other plan didn't work. And so, she had been locked in this tower for as long as she had been with "the beast." She had been called a "whore" and "mistress of demons." Everyone seemed to forget that she entered his home as a way to protect theirs. She had kept her honor, but not her heart. It was now locked up just as she was. But the pain was bleeding through. She didn't know how much longer she would last.

Her hair hadn't been cleaned in weeks and the only piece of clothing they allowed her, a rough shift, was marked by blood and dirt where they had performed their rites on her skin. Belle's skin was no longer fair and pure. It was burned with heated poles and opened with blades. But none of it seemed to work. And every day the king, her father, became more desperate to purify his only child. So the purifications became worse.

She was sitting just below the only thing she could consider as a window into this cold and depressing room, a square hole in the stone wall. Above that hole was the leaky roof that wouldn't be fixed, and below her body was the molding wooden floor that appeared to be able to give way at any time. It wasn't the first time that she had considered throwing herself through the hole. It wouldn't be too hard. She just needed to pull herself up and squeeze through.

The trap door creaked open. Three men in white robes came up the ladder: one carrying her dinner for after wards, one carrying the purified water, and one carrying a hot brand in the form of another symbol.

They quickly got to work holding her down. This time they burned her right, upper arm. Each symbol was supposed to burn out the beast from her and then provide protection. There was a problem with that plan. The one they called "the beast" had hold on her heart, and she was never going to let that go.

She had lost track of time. Forgetting what was going on, and remembering what was good. What was good, was being rescued. Maybe today her love would rescue her. He would see and know the tortures that were happening to her and he would stop it. He would catch her as she fell. Just as she had fallen off the ladder when trying to take down the curtains. He couldn't let her fall. She just knew that he would catch her.

The men finally went away and Belle nibbled the food they had left her: dried bread and stale water. There was something new on the plate though. She picked it up. It was a piece of glass. A piece of mirror to be precise. She saw her face. It was sunken and gaunt. What little beauty she had had left after arriving at the palace had been destroyed by months of abuse. Laying the piece of glass down, she looked to her window. The full moon shown through.

_Rumplestiltskin will catch me._ She thought to herself. Using what little energy she had left, she stood and pulled her self onto the ledge. Her head poked through the hole, looking down at the ground below. _He's done it before, he'll do it again._

"Oh, dear!" A familiar voice declared. "How could this happen to you?" Belle looked at the woman. It was the woman in black. The one who had told Belle that a kiss would save her beloved. That kiss had been the end of it all.

"What are you doing here?" Belle yelled. This woman was responsible for her confinement.

"I had heard you had returned to your father. Did things not go well with the employer and lover?"

"You destroyed it all!" Belle fell off the ledge and grabbed the closest thing, a wooden cup, and threw it as hard as she could at the woman.

"I'm dear friends with Rumplestiltskin. I had hoped to cure him from his curse." The woman easily dodged the misthrown cup.

"He seemed to think that I had conspired with you to destroy him so that he would no longer be as powerful as you."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. How about this? To show you that I mean you no harm and that I care for Rumple, I'll take you to him." The woman smiled.

Belle studied the woman's face, looking for any sign of insincerity. The longer she stared, the longer the woman became more believable. Maybe Belle had misunderstood everything. It had been so long since that fateful day. When she saw Rumplestiltskin again, she could explain everything. She could could explain how she loved him and would never leave him again.

"Alright." The woman's smile deepened and she held out a gloved hand for Belle to take.

"Let's go." Belle took the hand as the door to her tower was opening again.

"What - ?" And Belle was gone. Gone to see her beloved. Gone to be free of this nightmare.

At least, that's what she thought until she stood on the opposite side of metal bars from the woman in black. She had traded a tower prison for a jail cell. The woman in black was not to be trusted.

Belle screamed as the woman in black walked away, laughing.


End file.
